Incident of Abd Al-Rahman bin Sayyabah

In fact, this supplicatory prayer comprises highly considerable contents. Its reporter is Abd Rahman in Sayyabah whom was given a noteworthy advice by Imam Sadiq (a). Let us now refer to this event…

Abd Rahman ibn Sayyabah: When my father died, one of his friends came to us and knocked the door. When I opened the door, he expressed his sympathy to me and then asked whether my father had left any financial inheritance with us. When I answered in the negative, the man handed me over a bag of one thousand dirhams and advised me to keep them up, use them in commerce, and gain my living from their profits. Rejoicing at this, I hurried to my mother and informed her about what had just happened. Later on, I went to one of my father’s friends and asked him to teach me what kind of business I would do with the money. He therefore advised me to trade in a sort of fine cloth. He also purchased a quantity of this cloth and I chose a shop to work in. In fact, Almighty Allah provided me with very much profit in this business. In the season of the hajj pilgrimage, I intended to go on hajj. I therefore informed my mother about this intention of mine and she advised me to give back the amount of money to its owner. When I did, the man became very happy as if I would donate him the money for nothing. Nevertheless, he offered to me more money, but I thanked him and informed that I would go on the hajj pilgrimage. I then left for Makkah and then returned to Madinah. With a group of people, I intended to visit Imam Sadiq (a) who used to permit all people to visit him at that time. Within the group that visited the Imam (a), I sat in the last raw, since I was young. People began to ask the Imam (a), he would answer them all, and they would then leave. When a few people only remained, the Imam (a) pointed to me to come close to him. “Do you need anything?” asked the Imam (a). “May Allah accept me as ransom for you! I am Abd Rahman the son of Sayyabah,” answered I. The Imam (a) asked about my father and I told him that he had died. Expressing sympathy to me, the Imam (a) asked, “Did he leave any financial inheritance with you?” “No, he did not,” answered I. “How could you then afford this journey of hajj pilgrimage?” asked the Imam (a). I then told him about the story of these dirhams. Interrupting me, the Imam (a) asked, “What have you done with these dirhams before you came on hajj pilgrimage?” I answered that I had given back the amount to its owner. “Well done,” said the Imam (a), “May I advise you of something?” “Yes, you may,” answered I. He thus said, “If you adhere to telling the truth and fulfilling your trusts, you will have a binding share in the properties of all people.”

To explain, the Imam (a) advised this man to keep up telling the truth in all of his words, to avoid telling lies, to fulfill his promises, to give back the debts to their owners in their limited times, to avoid devouring the others’ dues wrongfully. If one does all that to people, they will give him whenever you ask. If he does so, he will be as if he has a share in their properties. Back to the event, Abd Rahman added: As I committed myself with this advice of Imam Sadiq (a), I gained so many profits that the religious tax of which was three hundred thousand dirhams one year. According to another tradition, the aforementioned supplicatory prayer is ascribed to Imam Ali ibn Husain Zayn ’Abidin (a). However, it ends up with this sentence...